DBTL – Acid test after 31/08/2013

Yes, all Banks in Tumkur will work on next two Sundays i.e 25/08/2013 and 01/09/2013. Tumkur is part of Pilot project of Aadhaar-DBT for LPG subsidy.

The LPG cash subsidy transfer was launched in June 2013, and the residents have time till 31/08/2013 to complete the linkage between their Aadhaar Number, LPG Companies and Bank accounts.

There are 2,68,977 LPG consumers in Tumkur district.

Still 60,000+ consumers who have got their Aadhaar number linked with LPG consumer number have to get their bank account number seeded with this data. This is a bit worrisome, as after 31/08/2013, LPG consumers will not get the subsidy credited to their bank accounts, if the linking is not completed. They will have to pay the full LPG cylinder price and forego the subsidy part.

Bankers are doing their best to encourage LPG consumers to visit their bank branches and complete the seeding part. Towards this end, Tumkur Lead Bank Manager, Shri Jayaramaiah has convinced all Bank branches in Tumkur district to remain open on August 25 and September 1, to facilitate LPG consumers to get their Aadhaar number linked with their bank account number.

The pending linkages are common across all the 20 districts where the DBT-LPG scheme has rolled out.

Starting 1 September, in the 20 districts where the scheme has been rolled out, customers will have no option but to pay market price for cooking gas and be reimbursed a subsidy through a transfer to their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. Till then, customers who haven’t had their bank accounts linked with Aadhaar numbers have the option of getting subsidized cylinders from dealers.

What is DBTL?

* All LPG consumers who want to avail subsidy must provide Aadhaar number to LPG distributor and to their bank accounts

* Consumers will get advance subsidy in bank accounts as soon as they book the first subsidized cylinder. Consumer pay market price of cylinder to distributor

* Once first cylinder is delivered, subsidy eligible on date of delivery up to the cap of nine cylinders gets credited to bank account

* Three months’ grace time for consumers yet to link their Aadhaar number to bank account and LPG distributor

* After grace time, if consumers fail to link Aadhaar number, cylinders will be available to them only at market price i.e. without subsidy

There will be renewed interest in Aadhaar numbers and the linkages in the coming weeks.